The fluidity on combat gameplay is also insane, but the characters are so full of personality.

Earthworm Jim still has great animations. ^^

Marvel VS Capcom 2

Anything from Arcworks

The Ori games and Metroid Dread are up there for me in how smoothly the characters move.

Guilty Gear also captures the feel of cel shaded anime brilliantly:

For 2D (and pseudo 2D), ArcSys dominates. DnF Duel, GG Strive, Granblue etc. The art style and cinematography amply the effect.

Metal Slug. Pick a game. Any game.

Impressed by Clair Obscure exp33. Not the most realistic, but there is something captivating about those facial expressions combined with the art style.

Street Fighter III had some of the best sprite work I've ever seen. Probably one of the best examples of why 2D games still had potential past the 16-bit era and why I wish the industry wasn't in such a big rush to abandon 2D sprite-based graphics in favor of 3D polygonal graphics. Capcom was one of the few still putting out the occasional 2D game, and the results were great visually. Sadly, even that didn't last, and old pixel-art graphics are now almost entirely the purview of indie games.

I always loved the animation in the Bayonetta games for how it made the heroine feel so badass and powerful while also nimble and slick

I absolutely love the animations in Metroid Dread, how Samus runs, turns around, slides, places her hand on walls, scales corners it's all so fluid and responsive. There's also the poses when shooting and aiming that are fantastic.